Check out the Queen Latifah movie "Last Holiday"
The movie is set in Karlovy Vary

05.07.2006
28 °C

After a sad breakfast at McDonalds, we said goodbye to our beautiful, magical Prague and left for Karlovy Vary a very small, spa/resort town. On our way we watched tons of people getting fines for not having the proper tickets for the metro, we had a similar problem and faced a hefty fine, so be sure to get your proper tickets or you must be very stealth. Anyways so we found our way through the maze that is the Czech Republic transportation system, we really are awesome, and boarded a train to our small resort town. Yes I wanted to indulge and get all sorts of beauty treatments that hopefully we could splurge on. For your information on our way home from Europe I watched a Queen Latifah movie, "Last Holiday", that is about her dying so she makes a trip to her dream destination for a spa week and the whole movie is set in Karlovy Vary, pretty cool, huh? So we arrived however much later by train, and it was a big guess where we were, can you believe that they did not have one single sign that said the name of the town? We did the jump off and hope you are in the right place kind of thing. So we were and we headed off to who knows where. We took a taxi to one of the addresses in our book and found there to be no such place. Close by we found a hostel and after searching up and down the treachous hill we gave up and went for the hostel at the top of the hill. We were starvin marvins so we headed down the other horrendous hill towards the pictureqes little town. I really mean that it looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale, really small and cute. So it turned out that they dont really appreciate ATMS and the only one we found was of course out of service!!! Luckily my partner in crime had some money left so we explored the extremly over priced shops, all thirty of them and then went for a nice supper. From our little walk we had pretty much decided that we were out of our league by 40 years age difference and a million in income. So we walked more and gave up and went to sleep. The next day we went to the big attraction, the natural water springs, one specifically that shoots 30 ft in the air. All around the place are different tempuratures of water that you can try and are supposed to be very healing. So I filled my water bottle up, bad mistake this stuff is putrid but somehow I gulped it down thinking of all the healing that was happening, yeah right. So we left, feeling young again, you know from the water. We decided to go to the top of the mountain. I set out thinking we would take the hike but as we got to the cable car I thought that the ride up looked a lot better. At the top we hiked the million steps to the top of the bell tower, which also serves as a lookout point and just chilled for a very long time.

After our last day in Vienna we boarded a train to Prague, Czech Rebpublic. We were really excited to get here as we have heard nothing but great things about the country. We when we arrived at the station that night we were approached by an elderly lady who offered us a cheap place to stay. I am not really into the people picking us up but she just kept coming back. Since it was late at night we decided to go for it and took her up on her offer, it really was a good price. In the train station I tried to exchange some Slovenian Tolars that I had been carrying around with me for a while as no one would take them. This guy said he could and handed over some Czech money, luckily we had printed off some conversion cheat sheets ahead of time and it took me about a minute to realize this greasy-haired dude was ripping me off. I hurried back and he said "fine dont take it" and threw my money back. This exciting little adventure is probably the worst of anything that happened to us, yes we have had a smooth ride. So we headed on some trains with the lady and came to our station where we walked up some stairs and arrived out in the centre of Prague. This was quite the entrance. We were standing in the famours West.... something square where in 1990 the citizens of Prague demostrated until their leader declared that the communist state was over. It is a huge tree-lined boulevard lined with lots of city life, instantly I loved the place. So we headed to our new home which was quite close by. We new we were headed somewhere good when we saw the signs" Czechs largest Irish pub this way!". Our place was in an old apartment building as most are, where the doors are all 12 feet tall. It had the smell of cats but it was cheap and spacious with breakfast, but most importantly we were on top of a bar and down the street from the Irish one as well as others. We went to the bar under us that night. There was a football game on so we had to have some of the beer that I heard about. I am not a beer drinker but like they say Czech beer is really pure and is quite ok to drink, I definitly thought so that night! Anyways the beer is literally cheaper than water, about 1.20 CAD for a large pint, wonderful.. The next day we went exploring slowly through Prague. It is a wonderful ancient city, when I look back it was my top 3 for the most beautiful. Every single building was like a ancient castle or palace, and has that old ugly character look that I like. We werent feeling so great so we decided to take it easy and do what we like best, souvineer shopping!!! Later we saw the Da Vinci Code, a day before all you North Americans did. Only problem was that all the french and latin was written in Czech subtitles. By walking around we found out that we were staying in the old town as we like to. The only problem is that you are warned not to due to heavy traffic of Stag parties and lots of hustlers, its alright we like the excitement. Like I have said before we have really great luck, this day we happened to be walking through a wonderful square surronded by hundreds of people staring at one of those really weird clocks that turns in every direction. We stayed and watched, as soon as it hit whatever time some old puppets came out danced and then spit, an event which everyone thought was hilarious. We werent the most impressed, but glad we got to see it. The place we were staying also had a underground mall under it where we found out that a awesome reggae artist was going to be coming tongight. So later that night we went for supper and beer at the place we went to the night before then headed to the show. It was a fantastic live preformance that lasted many hours. A great thing about Prague is that everyone speaks english so we had tons'o fun. The major attraction of Prague is the Prague castle, I think which is the largest in Europe. Let me tell you it is nothing special. It is a quite modern looking building that is just a million years long. Thats all we heard about so we took a tour that began with a van ride. The tour guide had to speak a few languages and by the time she got to English, whatever she had been talking about we had passed minutes ago. The driver was too fast so the tour guide would yell at him and we would miss the attraction. When we got to the castle it was easy to see she really didnt care too much. Anyways the castle sucked but the cathedral inside was amzing. Prague castle no thanks. Next we went to the Communism museum. It was one of the best museums we have been to. It was very real and really hit home. We watched a documentary that was absolutly horrible to see plain clothes policemen beating on their own people during demonstrations and the hardest part to believe is that it was only in 1990 that this ended. That night we had a chill night and just went to our regular pub for supper after much exploring. The next day we signed up for a Jewish Quarter tour. The Jewish quarter is an area of town where most jews lived during many years when the city was seperated. It was a long and really enjoyable tour. Prague is just so beautiful and filled with some many stories. This was my new favorite city. Afterwards we finish our day we some important shopping for real Absinth, the stuff that makes you hallucinate. Only in Czech are you supposed to find the real stuff and even here it is a hunt. The really good stuff is kept behind the counters and sometimes they wont offer it to you. So Josh found one small bottle, all other stores were sold out, and bought a sample size one for 25dollars. The mikey size bottles go for two hundred dollars if you can find them. The next step would be getting the illegal substance across the US border..

We arrived that afternoon in Graz, Austria. Graz is a small city that we didnt expect too much from, but when we are picking places to go we always pick some unknown place just so we can stay somehwhere out of the tousit areas and exprience the country naturally. So this was our first exprience with Austria, a country which we really did not know what too expect from. The travel to Austria was absolutly gorgeous and the train station was very nice which is always a good sign about the city. So here we were entering another language barrier, German. What can I say about german, well it sounds hilarious when people are talking, people here tend to have very intense conversations full of spit. It turns out that Graz is known for its architecture and unigue design. I planned a big walk for the next day and we went to Mission Impossible III ok movie. One of the pieces of crazy design was one art mueseum that looks like a giant brain and at night has a crazy light show so we watched that for a while and went to sleep. The next morning after the best sleep I have had yet on this trip we went on our big walk. In the middle of the river is a large cafe/seating area that floats on top of the water so we hung out there for a while and then slowly began dropping things from our iteneray for that day. Next we went to the brain to see what was actually inside. Here were photo exibits and other art exibits. Next we made our way downtown to the largest collection of medival armoury in the world, guess whos idea that was, not mine! So I lasted about three floors and it was amazing the collection they had. Entire floors were dedicated to guns, helmets, and body armour. Some guns were so big it would have taken Josh and I to lift it, let alone actually fire the thing, I guess accuaracy wasnt too high on the list of priorities. On our way back to the train station we stopped at a square where a festival was going on, we do have the best timing ever. Graz was the first city we were to exprience the trams, bikes and vehicles dilemna. Crossing the road requires precise timing. Here there was a display of the Brazilian dance fighting, which is very fun to watch. So after our short stay in Graz we were off to Vienna, the capital of Austria. So pretty much the entire country of Austria is very beautiful somewhat like the rocky mountain area in canada but bigger mountains and the cities are all green and beautiful except for Vienna. Vienna is nice in its own way, it is the capital so the forests are not included. Vienna is an amazing city with important architecture, museums, and galleries on every corner. We ended up spending four days here but I would recommend a week to see most of it. Once we arrived at the station we called and got a place to stay, directions and took a few trams to get there, trams are a very big thing here. So this city would be our first exprience with the domination of bicycles. So in larger European cities, bikes are a very important and efficent way for everyone to get around. No longer do cars rule the road but bicycles and trams. Here there are seperate bike lanes on the road one in each direction like real traffic lanes and they also have bike traffice lights. It takes a while to get used to walking without getting in the way of something, here you have to watch out for trams, bikes, cars and people it can be dangerous! We found our pension which was once again in the ghetto, nice place. So lots to do unfortunatly the next mornign I found out that I had missed the Vienna Boys Choir, something I really wanted to see but thats ok it was too early in the morning. So we headed off for some museums, first a modern art museuem that included a exibit of the sacrifice of cows for religious ceremonies and then being spread on the people of the village, I think that was a bit to modern arty for me and then some other disturbing exhbits. My favorite was the pop art section, Andy Warhol and others. This year is very important for the people of AUstria because it is Mozarts 250th birthday. So to celebrate you can buy Mozart chocolate, perfume, ice cream, wigs, hats, penicls, toliet paper, whatever you want you can have it Mozart style. I am a huge fan of the artist Gustav Klimt, he paints the most beautiful pictures ever using gold leafing and sometimes jewels. One of his paintings just went for something like 125 million, yes ridiculous. Anyways one of the muesuems we went to has a large golden roof top that people call the golden cabbage. Here houses the Beethoven Friez by Gustaz Klimt and it was awesome. Vienna is supposed to have one of the best opera venue for accoutics in the world so we thought we would check one out. If you line up a couple hours before a show you can get standing room tickets for only 5 euros or something cheap like that but we would try another night as the touirst lady said that tonight was completly sold out and that everyone standing in line was stupid, her words not mine. Downtown through the amzing cobblestone streets lies the most exclusive and expensive shops you could imagine. In the centre is the famous St. Stephens cathedral. An amaxingly beautiful church with the icing lattice work that goes on forever. Beside the church were some very entertaining breakdancers. One woman probably in here early 90s was either drunk or just really into breakdancing because she would not stop dancing and wandering around the boys while they were right in the middle of their show. This was very entertaining. Inside the cathedral you know the usal amazingness. But here they have tours of the catacombs daily so we had to come back and check that out. Later we were making our way back home through the palace garden and then through the city hall, Vienna has really amzing architecture, everything is huge and very important and old looking. So we heard music and chanting, what else could it be but a football(soccer) party. That was the conclusion of our first day in Vienna. Next day we began with the very interesting Sigmund Freud mueseum. This extensive mueseum has kept tons of his belongings and has a written description about every single one. The building was actually one that he lived in for many years in Vienna. After we walked for awhile aroun the beautiful city. There is absolutly tons to see here, so walking anywhere you will bump into much to see. We made our way downtown again and went for the catacombs tour. I knew that catacombs meant underground tunnels but did not know it was a place to bury the "important" dead. This was a extensive underground tunnel. At one point in history when the plague hit Europe bodies we scraped by slaves and stacked flawlessly in these huge rooms. The number of bones and skulls and everything was crazy and creepy. I was really excited about this evening because we decided that we would go to the opera. We went into the building which was a good sign, usually the line starts outside the building. I went to sit down but one of the ushers asked me if I had any other shoes, I was wearing thong sandals. I didnt and he said I would have difficulty getting in, I mean what is that, will I get in or not? He said I wouldnt be able to so dissapointingly we left. That night we went around to a few different pubs and had some drinks in Vieanna. The next day we were up early to go see the huge Schönbrunn palace. This extensive place was only mostly the summer home of the Hapsburgs but nonetheless it is still amazing. We took the coulple hour long audio and I have never seen some many beautiful rooms. One was dedicated entirely to the blue and white china, another for the black-laqured wood with ivory asian carvings, it was really a great thing to see. Inside is a maze, gardens the size of a small city, foutains, and a strudel bakery! With our tickets we got a free sample and demonstration on how to make strudel, we just got our sample and left. One place Lonely Planet suggests is the HaustWien it mentions something about it being dreamlike and fantastic. The building was easy to see once we reached the proper street. THe building is tiled in all colors from bottom to top with wavy concrete that creates small hills. We still had no idea what this place was but it looked like fun. Once inside the theme continued the floors we wavy everywhere with bright decorations and tiles for walls. Turns out this is a gallery for a very talented and creative artist who I do not remember the name of but his pieces I will never forget. This guy is like a kid who has never grown up. He has designed buildings that have actually been carried out. The are the most fun, creative and beautiful designs I have ever seen!Then we went to the Mac Mueseum the modern art something. It was great lots of old furniture and carpets and weird art.

Around 10am we arrived at the train station in the capital city Lijubljana a city whose name is one letter away from the translation to 'jewel'. As usual we were completly unprepared so the first step was to find a place to sleep. We began with our lonely planet book which is a few years old but has not disapointed yet, that is until today. We went to one hotel the book suggested because it had good prices and seemed like a nice place to stay. Once we got there we could not get over the prices! It was so cheap we were picking out all the things we could add on to the room just because it was so ridiculosly cheap. Slovenia has one of those currencies that deal with very high numbers like 5000 tolars equals 26 CAD. So turns out we were reading the price list a little bit wrong, you know off by a couple thousand. Instead of the price being 3000 tolars it was more like 30 000, its the fact that they use decimals when we use commas, thats what screwed us up. So we quickly ducked out and began to search at a few different places. So we strolled along the water to see what we could find then went to the toursit office which turned out to be very helpful. They called one private place a pension that would take us in. So we took another death defying cab ride there, we have gotten to really enjoy taxi rides now. So we had a usual nap, the train we had taken the night before wasnt so successful because this time the heat would not turn off and I was so hot I thought my feet were going to shoot off like rockets!! Today was Monday so all museums were closed so we decided to just walk around. We had not heard to much about Lijubljana and from first appearences it did not strike me as a place with too much to see so we figured we would leave the big city and head to a little resort town the next day. This night we went down to the water for something to eat and found the perfect resturant where a little band started to play and attracted a bunch of media attention, I know I know they just cant stay away from me. After we walked through the city park which is absolutly gigantic. In easter europe they really appreciate their green space. We got a little lost, well I think so but Josh says he knew the whole time and a couple hours later arrived back at our place. So not anything against this beautiful city full of old buildings and museums but it just didnt strike us as anything we hadent seen before. The next day was another early one, we had a big day planned and it started with a train ride to Postyana a city that attracts millions of vistors a year because of its caves that are the third largest in the world at 21 km long. It was a rainy cold day, oh yes just great for super humid cold caves. I rented a jacket because in one of my purges of sending stuff home I sent home my rain jacket and only have one sweater which is just stupid. Anyways we boarded the little train a took off for a few km into the cave. There is just nothing like what I saw that day. These caves which absolutly gigantic enough to house underground cities. We traveled for about 20 minutes into the cave and then got out for an hours walking tour. Hear we saw all types of stalagmites and stalactites and saw some human fish. The tour was phenomonal well the caves were, even those I was cold the trip was very much worth it. After we got a taxi up to the train station and got a train to the resort town Bled. Bled is located in the mountain area of Slovenia and supposed to be really nice so we took a leap of faith like all other places and took a train into the remote area. We arrived later that night around 9pm and hopped off the train to go try and find a place to stay. First of all we had to find the town. We got off the train at a stop called Lesce-Bled so we assumed it meant both cities we near. So we started walking with absolutly no direction or any idea, we just knew we were looking for a lake. A little bit later after some time spent in one direction we switch direction and headed the other way. Here we found a possibility of somewhere to stay until we found out that Bled was about 20 km away. We made our way back to the station, the reason for the two town stop was that Bled is in such a remote area no train goes into the area. So we waited for a regional bus and rode into Bled. Again we did not know where we were going so the bus driver stopped somewhere and told us where to find a hostel. After some hiking in the dark we found a gorgeous hostel and got up to our room which was definitly one of the nicest ones we have stayed in yet. The next day we woke up and explored this area. It definitly is a tourist place but only because it is postcard perfect. The village surronds a lake that is surronded by mountains and huge green forests. The village is very famous for its ancient castle that sits on a cliff above the lake. So we went walking and decided to stop at a cafe for a drink which turned into a bunch of drinks. Josh and I have been little angels this trip, I can count on one hand the number of times we have been drinking so it was due. We moved around to a few places and then went to the park and then up to a beautiful church and the home and then to eat and that was our entire day. The next morning we asked to stay another day, we just didnt get too much done the first day. Josh and I got into a little tiff, maybe we werent feeling so great from the night before. So we split up and went our seperate ways, I can tell you what I did. I went walking down past the lake and got some souvineers and then walked up to the church, again. I remember from the day before that it was beautiful but I didnt remember much else so it was worth another trip. I hiked my way up to the castle but by the time I got to the entrance I was so tired of walking up hills I just went back down. Later I saw Joshs photos of the views from the castle that are amazing!!! You must be tired of hearing amazing and beautiful, but I just cant help it we just go everywhere that is amazing and beautiful!! So we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station and caught a train to Maribor, Slovenia. This was just a departure town for us so we got there found a place to stay in a university residence and relaxed for the night which includes ice cream and a walk around town, you know another night walk around a beautiful ancient town. The next moring we left for the bus station and after a struggle with the train station authority to authorize our passes we were on our way to Graz, Austria.

Late the next night we arrived in Zagreb, Croatia. Both josh and I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into as we both had no research on the area. The one time I stopped to look a Croatia tourism I saw the most beautiful beaches, so we decided to follow that picture and hope for the best. This is the capital city that is not on the coast but supposed to have much to see. So we found a dingy youth hostel and went to sleep. The next day we got up early, those youth hostels are the worst for early wakings and started our day. From the moment we arrived there was just something I instantly liked about Zagreb and felt connected to. I know it sounds very corny but I never felt like a stranger to the city. All the buildings were old and beautiful and the city was full of plants and trees. Off in the distance you could see the mountains. First thing I do once we get to each city is make a big plan of everything that I want to see and do. Then the next day as you start walking the things to do drop off in number. The first place we made it to was a huge square that is supposed to be great for people watching, whatever that means. Today there was a movie being filmed, I know now I am famous in Hungary but I still did not get asked to be in the movie here in Croatia. So on we walked up curvy streets full of shoes shops, I dont know what it is but in Croatia they just love their shoes. The picture I had of Croatia was very dismal and bleak. In our lonely planet book what is suggests is to stay away from secluded areas because they are still doing heavy mine excavations and they are still in the ground. All I know of Croatia is the fighting that went on and of course that paints a dark picture. As for Eastern Europe I was completly wrong and some how imagined little villages far behind in modernization and I could not be farther from the truth. Both Hungary and Croatia are as far developed as any place I have ever been, everything is extremly modern and the fashion here is comparable to Italy or Japan. We stopped at a art museum to see some Van Goghs and other artists and then moved on to some amazing churches, yes they are all amazing in Europe. One had a tiled roof made into a bright pattern of 6"X6" tiles. Afterwards we wanted to go eat, easier said than done. What we had slowly begun to figure out is that people here do not like to eat much, rather they like to smoke, drink cappicinos and booze. Nothing much wrong with that unless you are starving!! So finding a cafe that serves food let alone a resturant is a hunt for sure. So after finding a cheap rsturant we agreed that Croatia was no Hungary when it came to food. Afterwards we made our way up to some church famous for its lattice work, guess what, is was amazing. That evening we would be leaving for our much anticipated destination Spilt. So we wandered more around Zagreb and went to the bus station to catch our overnight bus. A few words about Europe: 1. you can smoke anywhere. All though most countries have or are putting laws into place people smoke where ever they want. Buses, trains, malls,internet cafes and they especially go for the places that have clearly marked signs for no smoking. 2.the pace of life is never too hectic. Except for Sweden we have never seen a convient store. Trust me when you dont have them you realize how convinient they really are, especially when all grocery stores close at seven pm and do not open on sundays. I think the idea is that you are supposed to plan ahead, but who does that??? No Starbucks or any such thing. Although they love their cappicinos and I mean LOVE, the only way to get one is to sit down at a cafe or resturant. Or out of a machine at the bus station but we found that its not a good idea. Everyone rides bicycles everywhere. Currently Josh and I are in Vienna, Austria and they have seperate lanes and traffic lights for bicycles everywhere in the city. Ok back to the story so we boarded our overnight train and left for Split. Josh and I have Eurail passes so we can hop on any train and find empty seats that are second class. What we try to do is get on the train early find our own cabin and try to look as mean as possible so no one comes in, then we can stretch out and sleep for the nine hours or however longs it takes. So far we have been lucky and this night was no exception. Except we had the car that had no heating. So we spent half the night layering clothes and the other half trying to sleep but it just wasnt going to happen. So at seven the next morning we arrived in Split. The thing about small train stations is that you never have to book a place because half the town comes out to offer you a room in their house. So we accepted on old mans offer, he seemed ok and we began the walk to his place. OK i have talked about all the gorgeous things I have seen, but Split takes the cake for the msot beautiful place ever. It was just as the sun was taking over the anicent city full of palm trees and white stone buildings and I knew that this was my favorite place we had been to yet. The water again extremly beautiful very clear and blueish greenish. So we arrived at our destination which was the usual for accepting offers at the train station. Small and mostly clean but private and right in the centre of town. After our nap we went and explored the town, apparently there was a celeration going to be happening in town this weekend. We seem to have really good timing when it comes to festivals and tourist places. The city itself used to be a fortress and is surronded by the sea. We did a lot of stall shopping that day and then of course a hunt for food. Another relxed day. The next day was my favorite day, laundry!!! After we went exploring in the ruins which were similar to the Roman ruins in style and date. The church here was magnificant. Outside the walls of the citz is a huge man or wizard as he is known as. I saw a bunch of people rubbing his foot so I went and did the same thing, hopefully it is for good luck and the werent just wiping something off their hands. Like I mentioned before do we ever have good timing because the "Flower Show" was here this weekend, oh you should have seen Josh he was so excited!! Anyways this is a big event and people from all over come to compete. Underneath the ruins is a big series of tunnels from the ancient ruins and they use this space very wisely as an exhibtion area. The flower set ups were awsome and so beautiful, flowers are normally beautiful but in crazy arrangements they were spectaular!! Huge fish, tables, walls were made out of colorful flowers, which was set perfectly against the stone grey walls. Afterwards we enjoyed the market stalls, tons of purses and went to watch our tv. Finally a country that doesnt believe in voice over-dubbing! The next day was a much anticipated beach day, we like to include these days as often as possible. So at 6:30am we were up and packing, and then left for our ferry ride to a island and the town of Hvar. After a two hour ferry ride we arrived at the dock and took a bus into the town of Hvar. This island is quite unpopulated and the drive was on the edge of the island cliffs so it made for a very interesting drive especially at top speeds. The view was breath taking, the most perfect waters on a insanley sunny day. The town itself was again very acient and perfectly white/beige which is the perfect setting against the water, the pictures we took look like everything you would see in a post card. The thing about Croatian beaches is that they are the most beautiful in the world, but not made of sand. You will find no sandy beaches in Croatia just big rocks. But somehow that doesnt seem to important. We walked aways and found a hotel that was building a resort area with coloum lined beaches, so we laid on the huge rock slabs for a few hours and crisped ourselves. We found out that still the water is very very cold but we kept trying and eventually we got most of our body in the water. We collected our stuff and waited at the bus stop for the bus to take us to the ferry, but at first we were told by taxi drivers that there would be no bus service today. We half believed them until we remembered that we had taken a bus to get here, never listen to what they say! We arrived back in Split only to wait a couple hours until our train came to take us to Zagreb, the capital city we had been at before and then onto Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia. Nine hours later we arrived back in Zagreb and caught our train to Slovenia. I have to say this was the saddest departure, as Croatia was my favorite country and we had only spent a few days in the country. So the train rides has been absolutly beautiful through Eastern Europe. There is much more room between the cities and it is all fresh green rolling hills and huge forests with little lakes and ponds. All the villages are really picturesque, very small old homes surronded by rock fences and all towns have little medival churches. If I can stay awake long enough train rides are definitly the way to travel Europe, by the way I have also become a UNO master.